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MINNEAPOLIS -- A few thoughts at halftime from the Metrodome before returning to our Countdown Live chat:

• This is how underdogs win games: Near-perfect execution and a few well-timed mistakes from the opponent. That's more or less what we have here between the Minnesota Vikings and the Green Bay Packers.
• The first pass of rookie quarterback Christian Ponder's first NFL start was a 72-yard bootleg pass to receiver Michael Jenkins. His second pass was a 1-yard touchdown pass to tight end Visanthe Shiancoe, also on a rollout. The Packers should have expected a steady diet of bootlegs, based on what Ponder did during the preseason.
• Ponder has given the Vikings a new level of energy and, just as important, accuracy on easy passes. Overall he has completed eight of 14 attempts. He has been under control and appeared unaffected by the Packers' blitz packages.
• Packers quarterback Aaron Rodgers completed his first 13 passes and finished the half 17 of 20 for 197 yards. One was a drop by receiver Randall Cobb on what could have been a touchdown. The Vikings' injury-depleted secondary is no match at this point.
• Cobb has had a rough day, considering that drop and a fumbled fair-catch attempt that gave the Vikings possession near midfield for their second touchdown.
• Vikings defensive end Brian Robison should have been ejected for kicking Packers offensive lineman T.J. Lang in the groin. He got lucky when officials limited his punishment to a 15-yard penalty. It was a dirty low blow and couldn't possibly have been justified.
• Vikings defensive end Jared Allen is having his way with Packers left tackle Marshall Newhouse. Allen has two sacks, bringing his season total to 11.5. In three games against the Packers when Chad Clifton has not played, Allen has 11.5 sacks.
• Now, back to our Countdown Live chat.

CHICAGO -- Quarterback Jay Cutler campaigned earlier in the week for plays featuring quicker releases to alleviate the beating he’d been taking.

Granted that request, the quarterback unleashed a beatdown of his own Sunday night in throwing for two touchdowns and finishing with a passer rating of 115.9 in a 39-10 victory over the Minnesota Vikings at Soldier Field.

By implementing shorter drops with quicker throws, offensive coordinator Mike Martz might have found a way to relieve some of the pressure on the club’s beleaguered offensive line, which actually pieced together one of its best showings of the season.

The Bears took the field with their fifth combination of starters along the offensive line, this week using Lance Louis at right tackle and Chris Spencer -- playing with a broken hand -- at right guard. The unit allowed only one sack. Surprisingly, the offensive line has given up only one sack in two of the past three games.

With the latest tweaks on offense, perhaps the Bears are onto something they can use in the coming games.

Let’s take a closer look at what transpired in this shellacking:

What it means: The Bears learned that flexibility -- especially on offense -- might be the best way to protect Cutler in the long run. More importantly, the club evened its record to 3-3 and gained a game on the Detroit Lions -- 25-19 losers to the San Francisco 49ers on Sunday -- in the NFC North standings.

Obviously, Chicago still has quite a bit of catching up to do to get back into the division race. But the team needed some momentum headed into next week’s outing against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. If the Bears can come out victorious against the Bucs, they’ll be sitting at 4-3 headed into the bye.

Curious inactivity: Benched during the week of preparation for Sunday’s game, Bears veteran Chris Harris also mysteriously found himself on the club’s list of inactives.

Prior to the team’s official announcement of the move, Harris used Twitter to send out a couple of seemingly cryptic messages.

“The majority of the time adversity paves the way 4 success.”

Harris later tweeted: “How big/diff ur situation appears 2 b is a matter of perception. Most difficulties we face r pretty insignificant in the big scheme of things.”

The club made the decision to move Harris and two-time Pro Bowler Brandon Meriweather out of the starting lineup earlier in the week in favor of rookie Chris Conte and second-year man Major Wright. In the final year of his contract, Harris doesn’t believe he’s a part of the club’s future plans. With the team’s latest move, it appears Harris might be correct.

Rookie showings: Conte made his first career start Sunday, and rookie defensive tackle Stephen Paea finally made his NFL debut.

Starting at free safety in place of Meriweather, who was benched earlier in the week, Conte played a relatively mistake-free game, contributing five tackles through the first three quarters. A healthy scratch through the first five games, Paea was activated against the Vikings because of a sprained knee to veteran Matt Toeaina.

Paea posted two tackles in limited action, including a sack of Donovan McNabb in the first quarter for a safety.

Sack parade: After notching just one sack in the first half, Chicago utilized the trio of Julius Peppers, Israel Idonije, and Amobi Okoye for four sacks of McNabb in the third quarter alone.

Hobbled by a sprained left knee, Peppers sacked McNabb twice and Idonije and Okoye chipped in sacks, too.

Record-setting Hester: Devin Hester extended his return touchdowns record to 16 with a 98-yard TD return on a third-quarter kickoff return.

Hester appeared close to breaking for another score the next time he touched the ball, but was run out of bounds at the Minnesota 38 after a 27-yard return. Hester gained 134 yards on returns.

What’s next: The Bears travel to London to face the Tampa Bay Buccaneers at Wembley Stadium. The club desperately hopes to move to 4-3 going into the bye because tough matchups are on the horizon. After the week off, the Bears face the Philadelphia Eagles on the road, followed by the Lions and San Diego Chargers.

Randy Moss has announced his retirement. An all-time great and a sure Hall of Famer, Moss’ greatness cannot be denied.

He is one of the best big-play offensive players of all time and the elite threat of our generation. Moss’ physical abilities were off the charts.

But this seems like a good time for him to retire. Last season, when Moss played for three different teams, was an embarrassing showing for Moss. For all of Moss’ greatness, the majority of his brilliance was based off those off-the-charts physical abilities that he was born with. And some of those talents have eroded -- as they do to all players with age.

Again, if I had a Hall of Fame vote, I would vote Moss in as soon as he was eligible. But the majority of his extreme effectiveness was based on his ability to really get deep. Some technician wide receivers like Derrick Mason and Hines Ward can age more gracefully. Moss horrified opposing defenses because of his great speed, explosion, coordination, height and ridiculous ball skills.

He was never a precise route runner or a guy who made his living between the numbers. So, when his speed and explosion deteriorated, Moss’ effectiveness did as well. Now, I believe Moss could still go up and get the football in the end zone -- he has simply been an elite touchdown producer over his career and thrived in the red zone. But without the ability to simply run by most corners, Moss just isn’t the same.

I was asked repeatedly over the lockout, “What does Moss have left?” My answer was always, “I don’t really know since 2010 was such a strange season for him. It all comes down to if he can still really run. If he can’t, he isn’t Randy Moss. If he can, he still has a major role on a downfield passing team.”

Apparently, Moss realized he wasn’t quite the same in this capacity and wisely decided to get out instead of suffering through a season like he did in 2010.

All of that being said, I will very much miss watching what Moss could do on the football field. There really has not been another player quite like him.

Scouts Inc. watches games, breaks down film and studies football from all angles for ESPN.com. Follow Matt Williamson on Twitter @WilliamsonNFL.

The Detroit Lions will be the first NFC North team to get on the field for a training camp practice, and so it makes sense for them to have made signing their draft class a high priority. After a flurry of agreements Thursday afternoon, the Lions are down to one unsigned rookie: First-round pick Nick Fairley.

The Lions have a 10:15 a.m. practice scheduled for Friday morning.

Chicago Bears

Signed

• Round 5(a): Linebacker J.T. Thomas
• Round 5(b): Quarterback Nathan Enderle

Unsigned

• Round 1: Offensive lineman Gabe Carimi
• Round 2: Defensive tackle Stephen Paea
• Round 3: Safety Chris Conte

Detroit Lions

Signed

• Round 2(a): Receiver Titus Young
• Round 2(b): Running back Mikel Leshoure
• Round 5: Linebacker Doug Hogue
• Round 7: Offensive lineman Johnny Culbreath

Unsigned

• Round 1: Defensive tackle Nick Fairley

Green Bay Packers

Unsigned

• Round 1: Offensive lineman Derek Sherrod
• Round 2: Receiver Randall Cobb
• Round 3: Running back Alex Green
• Round 4: Cornerback Davon House
• Round 5: Tight end D.J. Williams
• Round 6(a): Offensive lineman Caleb Schlauderaff
• Round 6(b): Linebacker D.J. Smith
• Round 6(c): Defensive end Ricky Elmore
• Round 7(a): Tight end Ryan Taylor
• Round 7(b): Defensive tackle Lawrence Guy

Minnesota Vikings

Unsigned

• Round 1: Quarterback Christian Ponder
• Round 2: Tight end Kyle Rudolph
• Round 4: Defensive tackle Christian Ballard
• Round 5: Cornerback Brandon Burton
• Round 6(a): Offensive lineman DeMarcus Love
• Round 6(b): Safety Mistral Raymond
• Round 6(c): Center Brandon Fusco
• Round 6(d): Linebacker Ross Homan
• Round 7(a): Defensive end D'Aundre Reed
• Round 7(b): Receiver Stephen Burton

The NFL has moved the Minnesota Vikings at Philadelphia Eagles game from Sunday night to Tuesday because of an expected blizzard that could dump up to 20 inches snow on Philadelphia.

The game will be played at 8 p.m. ET.

Philadelphia Mayor Michael Nutter declared a snow emergency as of 2 p.m. ET Sunday.

How meaningless is the fourth preseason game of the year? So much so that we here at ESPN.com have posted our 2010 season preview.

Our panel of experts predicted the following consensus ranking for the NFC North:

1. Green Bay Packers
2. Minnesota Vikings
3. Chicago Bears
4. Detroit Lions

ESPN's Adam Schefter was the only voter to deviate from that ranking, flipping the Bears and Lions' positions.

We have a preview page set up for each team. Follow these links for the Bears, the Lions, the Packers and the Vikings.

Be sure to check out the video below, where ESPN's Monday Night Football announcing crew offers its thoughts on the NFC North. Ron Jaworski and Jon Gruden pick an over/under for wins this season.

Posted by ESPN.com's Kevin Seifert

Okay, we might as well get this out of the way now: I'm headed to Houston and will cover Monday night's game between Minnesota and the Texans. No sense in arguing about it. The game is on ESPN's air and will give us our best (and only) preseason idea if quarterback Brett Favre is going to be ready to play effectively when the regular season begins in two weeks.

If all goes well, I'll arrive in Houston Sunday night in time to take in the entire Chicago-Denver game, which is also nationally televised (on NBC). ESPN Chicago's Jeff Dickerson will be on the scene at Invesco Field, and along with my AFC West colleague Bill Williamson, I'll be adding some Bears-related thoughts to the blog sometime before Monday morning.

I'll have some pregame Bears thoughts posted by mid-afternoon. Thanks for your patience and continued interest during this crazy summer. For now, let's take a Sunday spin around the NFC North:

• Green Bay safety Nick Collins opens up about the offseason death of his father in this interview with Lori Nickel of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel.
• Packers receiver Greg Jennings (concussion) might not play in the team's preseason finale Thursday, writes Pete Dougherty of the Green Bay Press-Gazette.
• Drew Sharp of the Detroit Free Press was impressed with the play of the Lions' offensive line Saturday against Indianapolis.
• Amelia Rayno of the Detroit News reviews the two-catch preseason debut of Lions tight end Brandon Pettigrew.
• I like how the News' Bob Wojnowski described the quarterback competition between Daunte Culpepper and Matthew Stafford: "Stafford is playing like he has a shot to grab something, which is precisely [coach Jim] Schwartz's master plan. Culpepper is playing like he's trying to hang onto something, which also is Schwartz's master plan."
• Brad Biggs of the Chicago Sun-Times believes veteran Bears tailback Adrian Peterson will have to beat out tight end Michael Gaines for a roster spot.
• Denver's 3-4 defense will give the Bears a dry run for their Sept. 13 regular season opener against Green Bay, notes Vaughn McClure of the Chicago Tribune.
• Minnesota right tackle Phil Loadholt didn't practice Saturday and might not be available for Monday night's game, writes Rick Alonzo of the St. Paul Pioneer Press. Loadholt's ailment is unknown.
• Favre has lightened up the Vikings' huddle, writes the Pioneer Press' Sean Jensen.
• The threat of local television blackouts in Minnesota has not completely dissipated since Favre's arrival, notes Judd Zulgad of the Star Tribune.

Posted by ESPN.com's Kevin Seifert

Thanks to everyone for hanging in through Friday's technical meltdown. For those of you who like to peruse the archives, you'll notice that most of last week's posts are missing. We're hoping to get those restored soon.

But it's full speed ahead in the meantime. We hit the highlights of Green Bay's romp in Arizona here, and here are a few thoughts about Detroit's preseason game against Indianapolis. The Lions have a 1 p.m. ET kickoff scheduled at Ford Field.

I'll check back in later Saturday, after the Lions game concludes. In the meantime, here's what's happening in Detroit, Chicago and Minnesota:

• Drew Sharp of the Detroit Free Press wants the Lions to just announce that Daunte Culpepper will be their starting quarterback. Sharp: "I guarantee you if Detroit home blackouts weren't a serious issue this year, [coach Jim] Schwartz would've long ago rendered Culpepper as his starter."
• The Lions are keeping their scheme close to the vest this summer, writes Nicholas J. Cotsonika of the Free Press.
• Jeff Dickerson of ESPN Chicago analyzes recent Bears drafts after defensive tackle Dusty Dvoracek, a third-round pick in 2006, was lost for the season with a knee injury.
• Bears receivers Brandon Rideau and Devin Aromashodu remain in the thick of competition for roster spots, writes Brad Biggs of the Chicago Sun-Times.
• Minnesota coach Brad Childress is wearing a customized headset this season because of a hearing problem, write Judd Zulgad and Chip Scoggins of the Star Tribune.
• Rick Alonzo of the St. Paul Pioneer Press profiles new Vikings safety Tyrell Johnson.
  

Posted by ESPN.com's Kevin Seifert

EDEN PRAIRIE, Minn. -- Minnesota's locker room is divided over the arrival of quarterback Brett Favre, according to ESPN's Adam Schefter. And the nature of that division might surprise you. From Schefter's latest news story.
Sources with knowledge of the Vikings locker-room dynamics say some players believe Tarvaris Jackson gives the Vikings the best chance to win, while other players believe Sage Rosenfels gives the team the best chance to win ... In the words of one NFL source, Favre has "little support" in the locker room. ...
That's right: Schefter reports that the "schism" is between Jackson supporters and Rosenfels supporters. To this point, Schefter suggests, there are no Favre supporters.

Favre's impact on locker room chemistry has been an issue since this spring, when defensive end Ray Edwards joked that Favre is a "prima donna" and questioned whether he would use the same dressing room as the rest of the team. Favre's arrival last week, days after the Vikings broke training camp, did little to dispel the issue.

A few of us asked coach Brad Childress about the situation Wednesday afternoon. Childress said he hasn't seen "anything that points to that" but made clear it wouldn't matter if it were true.

"I think all of them will cite that business is business," Childress said. "Whether they like it or not, that's the way it is. As I told Tarvaris, I don't expect you to like it. He's a highly competitive guy, and he came back and played very well [last Friday against Kansas City]. That benefits him, that benefits us. There's no downside to that. I don't expect those guys to like it. But I expect them to deal with it and go forward. And by and large, that's exactly what's happened."

The normally private Childress even recalled an anecdote from his own life to demonstrate he understood the possible range of emotions in his locker room. As a teenager, Childress said he worked as a lifeguard at an apartment complex partially owed by his father.

"I decided to go over and have a little party at the club house and got fired," Childress said. "The man that was the majority owner of the place fired me. I was in tears. He said, 'It's nothing personal. ... Business is business and friends are friends.' So, business is business.”

(In that scenario, is Jackson the lifeguard? I'm not sure. But Childress' point is that you can't play favorites based on personal alignments.)

Tailback Adrian Peterson, meanwhile, looked genuinely surprised when asked about the dynamic Wednesday. "That's something new to me,” he said. "I'm not sensing nothing like that at all. I don't know where that came from. That's news to me."

Ultimately, this issue will melt away if Favre has a productive season. And to whatever extent there are players who favor Jackson, I just don't find that sentiment credible. No one with 20-20 vision this summer could have seen enough from Jackson -- or Rosenfels, for that matter -- to believe the Vikings would have been better off without Favre.

"I think it's tremendous that guys feel that way about their teammates,” Childress said. "We don't live in a vacuum. Those guys don't sit at their stalls and not get to know each other. That's part of the dynamic and people come and go and that's part of the dynamic, too. It's part of this deal. Does anybody like it? No. ... That's the hardest job, when you have to tell people that their dream is done. It is a dynamic and that's real."

Posted by ESPN.com's Kevin Seifert

A number of you questioned Monday's assertion that Minnesota quarterback John David Booty is eligible for the practice squad. After all, there are a number of places in cyberspace that note practice squad players must have less than one accrued year of NFL experience. Booty, the Vikings' No. 3 quarterback last season, was credited with a year of experience last season and is officially entering his second year in the league.

But after checking with people who would know -- and consulting the official version of the NFL's collective bargaining agreement -- I can tell you that Booty is, in fact, eligible for the practice squad this season.

The short version of the explanation is that the CBA allows for two possibilities in eligibility. (You can check Article XXXIV, Section 4(a) if you're interested in the exact language.)

Less than one accrued season is one marker for eligibility. But a player with one accrued season can be eligible if he was active for fewer than nine regular-season games during that season. Technically, Booty was active for only one game last year and was on the game-day inactive list for the other 15 as the Vikings' No. 3 quarterback.

After seeing this passage in the CBA, I confirmed Booty falls under this category. It's relatively rare but does exist.

With all of that said, I have no idea if the Vikings will try to sneak Booty onto the practice squad. Doing so requires a player to pass through waivers, meaning he could be claimed by another team before the Vikings have a chance to sign him to the practice squad. Minnesota lost quarterback Tyler Thigpen that way in 2007 when Kansas City claimed him.

All this really means is the Vikings have the option to attempt the maneuver if they want. It would allow them to keep backups Tarvaris Jackson and Sage Rosenfels on their active roster while continuing to develop Booty. Will it happen? We'll know in a few weeks.

Meanwhile, watch the video below to find out why Minnesota defensive end Jared Allen believes he could be one of Brett Favre's top targets.

Posted by ESPN.com's Kevin Seifert Green Bay's evening practice Monday turned out to be a newsy one. When it was over, coach Mike McCarthy confirmed the likely arrangement of his opening week offensive line and gave some strong indications about the makeup of his linebacker corps. As for the line, McCarthy said that Jason Spitz will start at center, Josh Sitton at right guard and Allen Barbre at right tackle. (Left tackle Chad Clifton and left guard Daryn Colledge were already locked in.) The toughest decision was replacing four-year starter Scott Wells at center, and McCarthy had a long one-one-one conversation with him earlier in the day. McCarthy: "Very tough decision. Scott Wells has graded out at a very high level. Scott is probably one of our top three or four linemen as far as grading out so far in the preseason, so that was a very difficult situation as far as determining what starter to go with. Scott has been a starting center for us, has played a lot of football here, but this is the group that we feel we are going to start with this week. ..." Barbre had been competing with Breno Giacomini at right tackle, but McCarthy said: "I just think Allen is further ahead than Breno." Meanwhile, as Tom Silverstein of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel points out, linebacker Nick Barnett (knee) returned to full practice and immediately took Brandon Chillar's place in the starting lineup. And veteran Brady Poppinga continued working with the first team at right outside linebacker despite the return of Jeremy Thompson. Rookie Clay Matthews (hamstring) remained sidelined, suggesting that Poppinga has the inside track to remain the starter. Continuing around the NFC North: Chillar and Desmond Bishop could see time in the Packers' nickel package, writes Rob Demovsky of the Green Bay Press-Gazette. Detroit placekicker Jason Hanson, who had surgery on his right knee earlier this month, remains hopeful he'll be ready to kick when the regular season begins. Carlos Monarrez of the Detroit Free Press has details. The Lions' top three receivers -- Calvin Johnson, Bryant Johnson and Dennis Northcutt -- have missed the first two preseason games. But all practiced Monday, writes Nicholas J. Cotsonika of the Free Press. Lions coach Jim Schwartz on watching the film of last Saturday's preseason loss at Cleveland: "A lot of times they say, it's not as bad as you think and it's not as good as you think when you watch the film. I think it's one of those cases where it was every bit of bad as I thought." John Niyo of the Detroit News takes a closer look. Chicago is still getting used to what quarterback Jay Cutler can do, writes Bob LeGere of the Daily Herald. Safety Danieal Manning and cornerback Zack Bowman, who both have sore hamstrings, participated in part of practice Monday, writes Jeff Dickerson of ESPN Chicago. Sean Jensen of the St. Paul Pioneer Press looks at how the Vikings' offense might expand with quarterback Brett Favre. Vikings backup Sage Rosenfels will return to Houston when the Vikings play their third preseason game there next Monday, notes Chip Scoggins and Judd Zulgad of the Star Tribune.

Posted by ESPN.com's Kevin Seifert

Brett Favre likely will play the first half of Minnesota's next preseason game, a nationally-televised (by ESPN!) matchup Aug. 31 at Houston. That's about all we know for sure about Minnesota's four-man quarterback situation.

Coach Brad Childress confirmed his plans for Favre this week during a news conference Monday but said he hadn't decided if Favre would play in the Sept. 4 preseason finale against Dallas. Childress also said it was possible he will keep all four of his quarterbacks on the final 53-man roster this season, but I tend to doubt that as a realistic scenario.

Childress has been all over the map for his strategy in the final preseason game. In 2006, he played his starters for almost a half. During the past two seasons, however, most starters did not see the field. Following that recent trend would leave Favre with less than three quarters of preseason playing time entering the regular season. But starting him against the Cowboys would also mean using the Vikings' No. 1 offensive line, an additional burden that must be considered.

As for his final depth chart, the Vikings ostensibly are conducting a competition between Tarvaris Jackson and Sage Rosenfels for the No. 2 role. There's also no guarantee that John David Booty will be the No. 3 quarterback; Booty has practice squad eligibility.

Childress: "Those conversations would definitely be internal. I don't think they're external at this time, but [the media] are free to conjecture and make your fantasy roster for the Vikings."

Well, since you asked: Conventional wisdom has suggested that Jackson will find himself on another team's roster when the season begins. While I'm not convinced Childress is ready to part ways with Jackson, I also wonder if he would sacrifice depth at another position to keep all four quarterbacks on his active roster.

Posted by ESPN.com's Kevin Seifert

Again? Wow. Chicago defensive tackle Dusty Dvoracek has suffered another season-ending injury. This time it's a torn anterior cruciate ligament in his right knee, according to Brad Biggs of the Chicago Sun-Times.

It's the fourth consecutive year that Dvoracek has suffered an injury that ended his season. The Bears weren't counting on him to be a starter, but the injury is still a blow to their depth as well as another career disappointment for a player who clearly appeals to coach Lovie Smith and general manager Jerry Angelo.

Anthony Adams and Marcus Harrison have been the Bears' top new nose tackles this summer in practice. Tommie Harris and Jarron Gilbert are the top two "under tackles" in the Bears' rotation. Still, this is some unwanted news for the Bears at the start of a new week.

Continuing around the NFC North:

• The Bears don't need Devin Hester to develop into a true No. 1 receiver, writes David Haugh of the Chicago Tribune. Haugh: "One day, Hester may develop into that 85-catch, 1,200-yard receiver that accompanies the No. 1 receiver tag. But, objectively, that day does not look close. Nor does it have to be this season now that [Jay] Cutler is the quarterback."
• Mike Mulligan of the Sun-Times writes that Cutler brings the Bears "a dimension the offense really never has had in the modern era, and it should scare defenses out of the eight- and nine-man fronts the Bears have endured for years."
  
• Pete Dougherty of the Green Bay Press-Gazette projects Jason Spitz as the Packers' starting center, Josh Sitton at right guard and Allen Barbre at right tackle. All three jobs have been up for competition.
• Rookie running back Tyrell Sutton is giving himself a real chance to make the Packers' roster, writes Tom Silverstein of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel.
• Detroit may have a winner in its quarterback derby by default, not achievement, writes John Niyo of the Detroit News.
• The two Lions players who fought before Saturday night's game in Cleveland -- defensive lineman Dewayne White and tight end Carson Butler -- were among the few who played well, writes Carlos Monarrez of the Detroit Free Press.
• Tom Kowalski of Mlive.com wonders why Aveion Cason is still returning kicks for the Lions.
• Minnesota is keeping quarterback Brett Favre on a "pitch count" in practice, writes Judd Zulgad of the Star Tribune.
• The Vikings are hoping to realize a cash-flow boost similar to what Favre brought the New York Jets last year, according to Sean Jensen of the Pioneer Press.
  

Posted by ESPN.com's Kevin Seifert

In case you haven't heard, former Minnesota quarterback Fran Tarkenton isn't thrilled with the team's newest quarterback. Most recently, Tarkenton referred to Brett Favre's arrival as an "absolute circus." (Here's what Tarkenton said this spring. And here's some more.)

From a historical perspective, however, last week's signing means that two of the NFL's best all-time quarterbacks will have spent time on a Vikings roster.

Consider their respective places in the NFL record books below. Tarkenton retired after 18 seasons and 246 games. Favre is entering year No. 18 and has played in 273 games.

Most Career Pass Yards, NFL History Player Seasons Yards Brett Favre 18 65,127 Dan Marino 17 61,361 John Elway 16 51,475 Warren Moon 17 49,325 Fran Tarkenton 18 47,003

Most Career TD Passes, NFL History Player TD Passes Brett Favre 464 Dan Marino 420 Fran Tarkenton 342 Peyton Manning 306 John Elway 300

Most Career Interceptions, NFL History Player INTs Brett Favre 310 George Blanda 277 John Hadl 268 Vinny Testaverde 267 Fran Tarkenton 266

Most Career Wins As Starting QB, NFL History Player Wins Seasons Brett Favre 169 1991-Present John Elway 148 1983-98 Dan Marino 147 1983-99 Fran Tarkenton 125 1961-78